Miyupimaatisiiun in Eeyou Istchee: Healing and Decolonization in Chisasibi Ioana Radu A Thesis In the Department of Humanities Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Humanities) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada September 2015 © Ioana Radu, 2015 CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Ioana Radu Entitled: Miyupimaatisiiun in Eeyou Istchee: Healing and Decolonization in Chisasibi and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Humanities) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final examining committee: Chair Dr. Erin Manning (Studio Arts) Dr. David Newhouse (Indigenous Studies) External Examiner Dr. Warren Linds (Applied Human Sciences) External to Program Dr. Steven High (History) Examiner Dr. Carole Levesque (INRS) Examiner Dr. Daniel Salée (Political Science) Thesis Supervisor Approved by Chair of Department or Graduate Program Director 2015 Dean of Faculty ABSTRACT Miyupimaatisiiun in Eeyou Istchee: Healing and Decolonization in Chisasibi Ioana Radu, Ph.D. Concordia University, 2015 This research is about ongoing processes of decolonization that are taking place in Indigenous communities across the globe and in the academia. Its twofold purpose is to explore the connections between autonomy and wellbeing in Indigenous contexts through a case study in the Cree Nation of Chisasibi, Eeyou Istchee (James Bay, northern Quebec) and to elucidate the decolonizing research paradigm developed in collaboration with the community. This study shows that approaches to decolonization and healing are varied, transitional, relational and creative. They are specific to particular nations, communities, groups within communities, and individuals. Often they are informed by personal histories, experiences and ontologies that come together to inspire and build opportunities for change and living a good life. It also seeks to caution against prescriptive and normative approaches to Indigenous-settler relations that bracket everyday experience and local processes of resurgence all the while bringing attention to how structural and institutional forces frame local action. The collective effort in Chisasibi implies that everyone is doing their part in decolonizing the mind, body and spirit of the community, the best way they know how. It is about each individual finding what they hold sacred and honoring it in everyday actions. Even though decolonization is only rarely expressed as such, for those that have been involved with this project, decolonization means caring and loving for one another and invigorating the body with the effort of surviving on the land. It includes openness to the world and the recognition that decolonization is a collective and creative undertaking, of making something new from the everyday encounters, and more importantly, of creating inclusive spaces for these encounters to continually take place. Keywords: decolonization, healing, knowledge mobilization, Eeyou Istchee iii In memory of my grandparents To Mom, Mike and All my relations Drumul spre “înţelepciune” sau spre “libertate” este un drum spre centrul fiinţei tale. Mircea Eliade, Fragmentarium, 1939 iv Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………..iii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………...….iv List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. viii List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. ix Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 Autonomy and wellbeing – what this research is about ............................................................. 10 Structure of the thesis ................................................................................................................. 13 Chapter 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 16 Reflexive ethnography and megaprojects or how Nemaska taught me about loss ................ 16 Forest fires and hydro development: first encounters in the field .............................................. 19 Primitive accumulation and the challenge of land-claims agreements .................................. 23 Struggles with positivist science ............................................................................................ 29 “And so we lost”: contesting the Paix de Braves ................................................................... 32 The outsider moves in ............................................................................................................ 36 The social construction of resource development in Eeyou Istchee .......................................... 39 Chapter 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 43 From sovereignty to relational self-determination .................................................................... 43 Aboriginal rights and citizenship ............................................................................................... 44 ‘From a few scattered villages to a Nation’: conceptualizing autonomy in Eeyou Istchee ... 47 Self-determination and Indigenous historytelling ...................................................................... 50 Breaking through the veneer of objectivity: oral history and lived experience ......................... 51 Tactical histories and clandestine discourse: Indigenous resistance in everyday life ............ 54 Embodying impacts: contesting the development discourse .................................................. 58 Difficult memories and community cohesion: what kind of research intervention? ................. 61 Chapter 3 ....................................................................................................................................... 64 Doing research with and for communities ................................................................................. 64 v Researching for the empire: Indigenous people, colonization and research .............................. 66 Reaching across the divide: subjectivity and political engagement in the social sciences .... 69 From objects to subjects: Indigenous peoples as partners in research ....................................... 71 Knowledge mobilization in the academia .............................................................................. 73 Cocreation of knowledge and Indigenist research ..................................................................... 74 It takes more than theory ............................................................................................................ 76 Chapter 4 ....................................................................................................................................... 79 Autonomy and wellness ............................................................................................................... 79 Troubled youth - in the quest for a relevant research agenda .................................................... 81 Listening to Indigenous voices – youth studies among Quebec’s Indigenous peoples ............. 85 Taking a stand: land and autonomy ........................................................................................ 87 New forms of expression and engagement ............................................................................ 90 Relational responsibility and self-determination ........................................................................ 91 Developing a research methodology in Chisasibi ...................................................................... 94 ‘You’re trying to make the youth look bad’ ............................................................................... 98 Chapter 5 ..................................................................................................................................... 105 “What the village would do is within one man” ...................................................................... 105 Portrait of healing and wellness of Chisasibi youth ................................................................. 105 Demographic profile ............................................................................................................ 106 Wellness and social network ................................................................................................ 107 Traditional healing ............................................................................................................... 116 Future directions ................................................................................................................... 121 Nitahuu Aschii Ihtuun: the Chisasibi land-based healing program .......................................... 122 Program characteristics ........................................................................................................ 124 Healing on the land: The Chisasibi healing model .................................................................. 127 Nature takes